Top Opinion

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." ~Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

DOMA makes it where marriage is between a man and a women, but it also makes it where states don't have to recognize a marriage preform in another state. That is not a congress decision but a states decision.

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." ~Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

There is nothing at all about sex acts or marriage listed in the Tenth Amendment. You have a great imagination!

The Fourteenth Amendment: Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Marriage within the several states is indeed a state issue as someone below rightly pointed out, but that doesn't mean states can discriminate against persons within their jurisdiction. The 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause says that no person within the several states can be treated differently than anyone else therein with respect to the law.

So, while states have broad discretion to set their own rules for marriage (lawful ages, custodial permissions, medical history requirements -- for anything in which there is a compelling public interest), they are not free to ignore the 14th Amendment.

Let me ask you this then – this isn't a 'gotcha' question, we clearly disagree on this issue and that's fine – but I *am* curious: On the same grounds you cite, would it not be lawful if, say for instance, homosexuals were ever to get the upper hand, for them to outlaw heterosexual marriage; to define marriage as 'a union between one person and a person of the same sex only'?

Under such a scenario, would heterosexuals who wanted to marry a member of the opposite sex (and couldn't) be right in alleging discrimination? I ask because such a law would not suit my *own* personal preference, and I presume yours would not be suited under it either.

If all the gays ( assuming in America ) moved to single state ( Delaware would be a likely candidate with only three counties ) and presented such a political force that single gender marriage were the only one recognized by state law enacted by the state legislature . Would I approve ? no Would I accept it ? Yes, With the same reluctance that I accept the other laws I don't like . Yes , it would be fully legal and would be a right of that state.

California allows Gay marriage , Maryland does not . Two girls went to California and got married . Now living in Maryland they are unable to get a divorce as Maryland don't recognize their marriage as such they cannot get a divorce . http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07... We take each states laws for what they are.

The Enumerated Powers clause enumerates to Congress certain powers and gives all others to state government. It makes no mention of marriage law and so it is a state issue, Congress has no right to legislate on it. States can pass laws like this one individually if they wish. I would be saddened by that, but would accept it as legal. I just dont think Congress should legislate in competencies in which the Constitution does not permit.

Oh, I agree with you . Amendment 10 of the constitution states it clearly.Amendment XThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.